pussy galore

-- Huk-L

?

Back in 1997 or early 1998, I posted on Matador's message board asking why Historia wasn't getting reissued, and Gerard or Accutron or somebody with authority said they weren't offered it by Jon. I've just assumed that he was trying to bury it and make the official PG story end with Live: In the Red (last show, nothing happened after). Corpse Love was still in print when the Matador reissues came out (dunno if it still is), so that's why it's not on Matador.

Interesting Brit press clipping (spelling Hagerty's name wrong 2 out of 4 times) effectively announcing the end of PG circa Historia and start of Royal Trux: http://www.rtxarchive.com/hagerty/pussygalore/images/pg_historia_disarray.jpg

Do you like Bob Bert?

I think I do, but it might just be the name.

It is very Sesame Street.

Like Ernie Els.

I hear no discernable "influence" on Primal Scream, unless it's BG's terrible singing, and Julia's singing was far far funnier anyway.

As for Bob Bert, I can't say I liked the Bewitched album I got all that much.

male singer: "I've got you where I want yeah down on your knees/becuz I'm nothing but a cu-unt tease"

female singer "FUCK YOU"!!!

So it's kind of a call and response thing, I suppose.

Mark, see: http://www.rtxarchive.com/hagerty/discography/publicworks.html

Wah? My memory must be playing tricks with me, I quite liked the album.

http://s56.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=0PQ9727CZQX6K0TP753XHE6XU3

2. Rocks Off

http://s56.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=1AOG59AGG7X9F1TOW4IW8JEX95

Let me know if these two work and I will YSI the rest. I have this as a vinyl single-LP edition with only half the tracks and also as a first-gen copy of the original cassette. The very last track is slightly cut.

Tragically, only "side 3" has seen reissue on the aforementioned Corpse Love disc.

Can someone please, please post a link to a copy of Exile ?
Here's the whole thing:
http://s64.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=255VRLSYVYF342N7NLZ1AYD83P

THere's a letter from Mick Jagger's lawyer printed inside Dial 'M'... that says something to the effect of "We regret that Mr. Jagger can not comply with your request" - I've heard that it's either he's turning down an invitation to appear on the album, or denying them permission to release Exile. Anyone know the truth or care to speculate?

Then I guess go chronological - Sugarshit Sharp, Dial M For Motherfucker, Historia de la Musica Rock.

The Live In The Red album is pretty great too.

PG were only any good when there were actual women in the band. Their first stable line-up featured Julia Cafritz AND Christina Martinez (who went on to form Boss Hog and eventually to become Mrs. Christina Spencer). They recorded "Groovy Hate Fuck", the "Exile" cassette and the "Pussy Gold 5000". Ace shits.

After Christina quit, they became more rock, less punk. Not that the difference was immediately evident: "Right Now!" still sounds pretty fuggin' messed-up. Picking up certified X-chromosome carrier Kurt Wolf, however, moved 'em even further into "rahk 'n' rawl" flavor country: "Sugarshit Sharp" and "Dial M".

Now, these latter three are all goddam GREAT records -- better than anything they did with Christina on board, so you'd maybe think that estrogen reduction was in the best interest of the Pussy...

But, no. After "Dial M", Julia took off, leaving the all-boy dregs of the band to cut "La Historia de la Musica Rock". And it FUCKING SUCKS. I mean it's got its moments...

"Revolution Summer" is a nice rip on Dischord and the DC scene.

"Song At the End of the Side" is funny, though it isn't really saying anything that "Sweet Little Hi-Fi" didn't.

"Mono! Man", "Ship Comin' In" and (especially) "Will You Still Have Me?" kick ass unrepentantly. And "Drop Dead" rules.

But the rest is lame "blooze" filler. Rote and lackluster. Sucky. Bad. And I imagine THAT'S the main reason Spencer don't want it repressed. It pees on the band's "legacy"...

Historia, however, is brilliant. For one thing, it is far and away their most listenable record (no piling on crap just to make a point). It is also conceptually WAY closer in spirit to the Shaggs and the Godz than anything else they ever did. Side one of the record is as good as one of the sides of Godz 2. Saying it's "rote and lackluster and sucky and bad" is like saying the Godz are "rote and lackluster and sucky and bad."

Just like the Shaggs are RaLaS and GOOD.

Just like "Right Now!" is RaLaS and GOOD. To this very day I can play "Right Now!" for folks who've never heard Pussy Galore, and have 'em roll around on the floor laughing.

"Historia" ain't NEVER gonna do that. It's not "so-bad-its-good." It's just bad. Bad as in average. Hell, it's just-barely-sub-adequate. Some slightly fucked-up white boy blues rock by some more than slightly fucked-up white boys. Less devolved than Devo, and not half as much fun.

Hell, the Gibson Bros./Bassholes did the trepannated blues thing a million times better.

I don't like Historia as a "trepannated blues thing." I don't see it as a lame conceptual record - like a lot of other roots rock/garage bands - in that way. I see it as real manifestation of rock and roll as fun garbage music. Like sixties American garage bands. (Like the Godz!) But not some sort of *conceptual* vision of "Oh, aren't we loose and raunchy and fucked up?" - which is what Pussy Galore was originally.

And the music on the record is not supposed to be "adequate" in the same way that early Royal Trux records were not supposed to be "adequate." (In the same way that the Godz were not supposed to be "adequate.")

On that level, I agree with you: "Historia"'s ostensible intentions are much purer than what PG had been up to before. But purity of intent doesn't = good music. And I think there are a billion better white boy blues records out there than "Historia". The best tunes are those that most resemble the band's earlier output (such as "Will You Still Have Me", which woulda sounded perfectly at home on "Dial M").

I think it's important to distingish the social pose from the actual music. To my ears, "Right Now!" rocks better and more authentically than "Historia". Hell, it's even more pop. So, the act that the band was putting on at the time doesn't concern me much. When PG were acting "fake", their music was real. When they tried to get real, their music became contrived.

As I hear it, the Godz have an, "Oh, aren't we loose and raunchy and fucked up?" aspect, too. As do the early Royal Trux. Doesn't take anything away from the deeper purity of their music, though.

I think "Right Now!" era Pussy Galore are WONDERFUL in almost exactly the same way I think "Godz 2" and "Twin Infinitives" are wonderful. Sure, Pussy Galore were (superficially) full of shit, while the Godz and RT at least pretended to believe in what they were doing. But underneath the pose and pretense, I think all three records are similarly transcendental, unique and perfect.

I think this boils down more to irrational personal preference than anything that can be coherently justified...

The distinction is that Pussy Galore always felt like an EXERCISE. Which was a drag. Yeah, exercises can result in good music - Stereolab made good music. But it weighs down on things. Historia feels more like just making music. The Godz were free, Royal Trux were free, and this record is free. (Occasionally, Spencer does seem to be doing his schtick, like on "Mono Man" - one of your favorites on the record).

For me, Spencer's borderline-horrifying attitude schtick just somehow works in PG's dumbfuck noisepunk context. Seems both appropriate and funny. Whereas it really, REALLY doesn't work for the rock/blues thing he moved on to. (Like, I can't even listen to that one song where he humiliates poor old R.L. Burside with his retarded "blues" interjections. "Snake drive!" my black ass...)

Now, I can't say how, exactly, but "Right Now!" fucking does my head in properly. It feels connected and right-on and effortlessly appealing all the way through. Course, there's nothing to the music but denatured "rock action," but it STILL kicks a million miles of flabby white ass.

And I just don't get that same feeling of effortless, exhilarating, spontaneous CORRECTNESS from "Historia". It just sounds like a group of simililarly-minded junkie-pose hipsters rotating the blues grinder while they try to figure out what to do next. Nothing special.

But, you know, that's just me...

i haven't listened to these bands in years, but MAN how i listened to them once upon a time (and pretty much around the same time too).

i wonder what i'd think of them all now. i think i got rid of my godz records for some reason.

Ha ha, just watching a rerun of "House" and he's playing an instrumental from "Dial M" to annoy everyone (and eventually to induce a seizure in a patient). It does sound a little annoying out of context.

ha ha ha ha

seriously, tho, where can I find historia?

Not a hard record to find, dude, at least not on CD. There's currently one on eBay for $2.50 Buy It Now.

I've been half-heartedly searching for a vinyl version for a few years, though

and just to weigh in, it IS their best album

yes it is

historia de la musica! great record. but yeah, doc supes, it's not too tough to find. i even see the LP every few months, i feel like. want a tape of it?

found it already. I just didn't actually look for it for ten years, and Matador never mailed it to my house, so I assumed it was hard to find.

There's currently one on eBay for $2.50 Buy It Now.

That House re-run was the first time i've seen the show. Kind of an amusing surprise. I was hoping (but doubting) the thread revive was in reference to this.

LO AND BEHOLD

The Alan Milman Sect + Man-Ka-Zam were featured as well.

i always thought they were very artfully shitty. it takes talent to get stuff to sound good and shitty.

The guitar noise on Punch Out on Right Now is so fucking great. I should go and put that on now

I still agree with myfuckingself upthread: Historia still blows. I suspect that if it actually HAD been reissued with the other stuff, there would be no contention on this point.

But come on, those records sound like shit. Historia is just an amazing rock and roll record

Sounding like shit doesn't necessarily preclude an amazing rock and roll record. Better produced or not, though, Historia sounds like they gave up on the project before they entered the studio. Zzzzzzzzzzz. Rob Tannenbaum (I believe) wrote a remarkable review of it in Spin, though.

Then again, my taste re: Pussy Galore are unorthodox. I only love two of their records. Right Now! sounds like shit and is an amazing rock and roll record, most amazingly on "Punch Out," the Bad Boy to the NY Dolls' "Bad Girl."

And Dial M For Motherfucker is one of the greatest albums of the 1980s. It's the pig fuck It Takes a Nation, an ADD whole that exceeds the sum of its tape fuckery, stops and starts, voices ghosting in and out, songs midwiving other songs, repeated themes, DNA strand guitar solos, radio transmissions, phone conversations, beeps, bloops, buzzes, etc. All of which aids the Pussies in rockin' the fuck out. Gawd, I adore this record!

I actually saw the beginning of that House episode but didn't stick around to hear PG. Which Dial M For Motherfucker did he play? ("DWDA" fits the description best.)

The guitar noise on Punch Out on Right Now is so fucking great.

Ah! A consensus is forming!

But I played that very track for a student a few weeks ago and he didn't get it. I even banged my head a bit to underline the effect. No go.

Plus Dial M For Motherfucker is in the fine tradition of godlike albums with crappy posters inside, e.g. Daydream Nation (still another reason why vinyl >>>>> CDs...has a poster ever been smooshed into a CD? Prolly but I can't think of one right now. Right Now!)

Thank you, Kevin John Bozelka, for being right about things.

like the Workdogs if they were much, much better

yeah, sorta my impression. was kinda expecting more hagerty vocals and less Spencer ham. So I haven't really figured out what i think of yet.

God bless you Kevin John Bozelka. I didn't wanna be all contrarian, but Dial M is a serious masterpiece. Actually pretty tuneful, in a weird way. I was kinda surprised by how obnoxious DWDA sounded in the House episode, 'cause I never thought of it as *that* annoying. One of my favorite albums of the 80's as well.

i can't remember the last time i actually listened to pussy galore. it's been a long time. other than groovy hate fuck, which i feel is its own entity in a weird way, the 2nd side of sugarshit sharp is definitely the thing i have played most over the years. i can't understand anyone not loving that sequence of songs and the sound and everything about it. so amazing to me.

i'd probably like historia more now than when it came out. i LIKED it, but i didn't play it much. and i sold my copy years ago, so that must mean something. or it did at the time. i definitely thought it sounded cool.

OK, I didn't mean for this to become an aesthetic debate - I love the new Times New Viking, Sic Alps, all the prime ear Siltbreeze stuff, scratchy old blues 78s...I'm not against great music 'sounding like shit.' My problem with PG's albums are just that they render almost every song an incomprehensible blur. Dial M is an exception, I grant you, and a good record, but not as good as Historia. I don't like Sugarshit Sharp at all.

I stand by my opinion of Zen Arcade (don't liked it, never did), but offer Replacements's Tim as being an amazing album despite one of the worst production jobs in rock history.

It's probably worth noting that the original CD of Dial M included all of Sugarshit Sharp except for Yu Gong. As a result, I've always thought of SS as an extension of Dial M.

"I don't like Sugarshit Sharp at all."

but why? it's so good.

i always liked how tim sounded. and i love zen arcade. we have way different ears. which is cool.

"It's probably worth noting that the original CD of Dial M included all of Sugarshit Sharp except for Yu Gong."

that's just friggin' idiotic.

yeah, and the CD added a version of Devo's "Penetration Of The Centerfold" in its place! Which is even MORE idiotic! The only place I have that awesome version of Yu-Gung now is on my original cassette.

Groovy Hate Fuck has always been closest to my heart of any PG.

The only place I have that awesome version of Yu-Gung now is on my original cassette.
Me too. Bought it when Sound Warehouse went out of business. I don't have a cassette player hooked up right now, though.

My Sugarshit Sharp CD has both Yu Gung & Penetration In The Centerfold on it, I have the Mute reissues from the late 90s tho.

"Groovy Hate Fuck has always been closest to my heart of any PG."

What he said.

Pussy Galore Love!

Live In The Red is destroying me right now. I never got a chance to hear it before. Everything I could want in a live album. I hope there's a fight on side 2.

Yeah, s'great, and Slo Pig's on there, isn't it? Nice to have that official and all.

any fans of pussy galore,please get in touch wanted live audio/shows I don't have

I've just got these:

AUDIO
SHITHAUS(pre-PUSSY GALORE) 1984-85 "live crush" cassete?? 60'

demos 1985 20'

1985-86 Oven Bait(Original Version) 60' *

1985-86 Unauthorized Oven Bait ACR007 60'
1986 1 YR Live 70' *

1986 Exile on main St 60'

Exile on main Street Unmixed Version 1986(DIFFERENT THAN THE CASSETTE VERSION) 60Â’

1-6-86 JedÂ’s?,NEW Orleans,Lousiana 30'*

8-6-86 the Complex,Washington DC 25Â’

10-16-86 the rat,Boston 37' *

9-19-86 hoosier ballrom,Indianapolis IN 45'*

CBGB,NY halloween 1986 3 tracks

CBGB 1986?love you live 7"(bootleg,4 songs live)

8-5-87 the channel, Boston 30'

10-13-87 Brewery, Raleigh, NC 40' *

31-1-87 maxwell's,Hoboken,NJ 40' MASTER=CDR1

7-26-87,asylum,NYC 25'

31-7-87 anthrax,Norwalk,CT 40' CDR1=CDR2

1987?right now cassete extra 2 live tracks 7'

11-18-88 Maxwell's,Hoboken, NJ 30' 1ST= CDR1 *

12-1-88 kennedy's club,Vienna,Austria 40' 1ST GEN=CDR1 *

22-1-88 Limelight,Kortrijk,Belgium 50Â’ CASS

1-8-88 CBGB's, NYC 30' MASTER=CDR2 *

Osaka,Japan ?-?-88 30Â’

?-?-88 Bonn,Germany 30' *

27-1-88 bad club,Hannover,Germany 30' MASTER=CDR1 *

11-17-88 Night Shift Cafe, Naugatuck, CT 35' *

17-11-88 Nightshift CAfe,Naugatuck,Conn. 1st GEN=CDR full show+interview

11-24-88 tropic,club,Bristol,UK 35'*

1-17-88 Effaanar,Eindhoven, Holland 45'*

12-2-88 the Boardwalk,Manchester,UK(this friday night only bootleg LP) 45'

23-2-88 Mean Fiddler,London,UK(cum into my mouth bootleg LP) 30'

30-11-88 drohnland,Nurnberg,Germany 30' AUD3=CDR1

23-11-88 fabrik,hamburg,Germany 70' MASTER=CDR1 *

26-11-88 rose club,Koln,Germany 60' MASTER=CDR1 *

30-1-88 the forum,Enger,Germany 30' *

17-7-89 the probe hollywood,CA 40' MASTER=CDR1 *

3-8-89 ground zero,Boston 45'

24-7-89 old avalon theatre,Minneapolis 40' AUD4=CDR1

?-july-89 apocalypse club,Toronto,Canada 60' 1ST GEN=CDR2

5-8-89 CBGB,NY “live in the red”(last show) 40’ ANY AUDIENCE RECORDINGS??

7-25-90 peel sessions 15' *(probably live tracks from a show of 1989)

VIDEO
(V)Maximum Penetration (o) 40'(X)(24) DVD

(V)1-3-87 CBGB,NY 30'(86)(24) DVD

(V)1989 british UK TV (PIG SWEAT)live in London 88+int 5'(86)

(V)Bad Club,Hannover,Germany 27-2-88(Jon Spencer stops taping,date probably as 27-1-88??) 10'

(V)9-7-89 Axis club,Forth Worth,TX 40'(78)(86) DVD

(V)dick johnson clip 5'(86) DVD

(V)22-7-89 Central Tavern,Seattle,WA(Camera Effects) DVD 40Â’

yay

classic Jon, Julie, Neil & Bob lineup:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYhTplwlLhQ

From the Teenage Riot video! At 00:12 you can see it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPytYrYqDbA